AOC skips congressional voting to campaign for Maya Wiley

AOC is MIA.

Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been skipping out on congressional votes citing pandemic hardship — but has found time to campaign for progressive mayoral candidate Maya Wiley.

“I continue to be unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote to the House Clerk in a June 14 letter — explaining that she had designated her colleague Rep. Jamaal Bowman as her “proxy” able to vote on her behalf.

Members of the House are allowed to designate “proxy” voters if the coronavirus pandemic makes them unable to attend floor votes in person. The rule has been in place since May 2020.

Far from sheltering in place however, AOC rocked out with Wiley at an indoor, unmasked concert with The Strokes and comedian John Mulaney at Irving Plaza just two days before she sent her letter.

“NYC is BACK Y’all! And we’ve got the BIGGEST selfie to prove it,” Wiley said in a tweet pumping the fundraiser. AOC plugged it too: “Sundays are great for early voting. Grab a coffee, find your pollsite, and vote today.” She claimed the crowd was “100% vaccinated.”

On June 5 Ocasio-Cortez also appeared with Wiley for a big-ticket endorsement ceremony outside City Hall.

Maya Wiley AOC The Strokes
Ocasio-Cortez and Wiley enjoyed a campaign event for the latter that included music from The Strokes.
Twitter

The House had been in recess from May 20 until June 14, so AOC didn’t miss votes during the two events. But the congresswoman has submitted a total of seven pandemic proxy letters since December and has variously granted her voting power to close squad associates like Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush.

“The height of hypocrisy is for AOC to use the pandemic as an excuse to skip votes in DC to then campaign for a radical defund-the-police Socialist for mayor of NYC,” Schuylerville Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik told The Post.

Ocasio-Cortez Rep. Jamaal Bowman
Ocasio-Cortez has used Rep. Jamaal Bowman as her “proxy” voter.
Gregory P. Mango for NY Post

“I thank her for making the Republicans’ job of retaking the house that much easier!”

Abusing the proxy system has come in for bipartisan scorn.

In February more than a dozen Republicans took heat for skipping out on votes so they could attend the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida. In May a clutch of Michigan Democrats also came under the microscope for using proxies so they could be available to tour a Ford plant with President Biden.

“The Congresswoman voted by proxy, as all Members are allowed to do per House rules. Any member who submits a proxy vote letter uses that exact same language — including the nearly two dozen Republicans who voted proxy so they could attend CPAC,” a spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez told The Post.

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